The promotion
by Liauno
Summary: Face is not all to happy after a promotion is anounced and leaves the rest of the team puzzled.
1. Chapter 1

The Promotion

Chapter 1

Nobody talked as the chopper touched ground at the small camp. Murdock did not even give his usual landing announcement complete with weather forecast and his trademark 'I hope you had a pleasant flight with Air Murdock'. They had been deep in enemy territory for the past three days and were all exhausted, sweaty and dirty. Very slowly they started to get out of the chopper.

"Okay guys, gather our gear and unload this bird while Murdock does his after flight…well, whatever Murdock does" Hannibal said.

Before he could go on Face threw in, "patting the bird on the shoulder and giving her a goodnight kiss."

"That too, but I was talking about the instrument check and all the getting it ready for the next flight thing. Anyway, as I said, you unload and I'll head over to the headquarters for a debriefing. Hope it will be short." With that Hannibal slowly trudged away.

Face sat at the door of the Cargo Bay with his head in his hands, "I'm so tired. I'm going to sleep for a week straight."

"Move it man. We're all tired. Get outta my way."

Face and BA got back inside to gather their gear, various weapons and left over ammo and handed it to Ray who was dumping it outside the chopper. When they finished Ray was first to grab his share and trudge away towards their assigned tent. As BA and Face were packing things on themselves Hannibal came back.

"That sure was a fast one", Face said.

"Gave him the coordinates where they can find the village. He didn't want details and I didn't wanna give them. The rest will be in the report."

"They won't send a troop out there anyway. We should have buried them."

"Face, we couldn't have done it between the four of us, we discussed that already." Intel had been terrible as per usual. Instead of finding the enemy ammo depot they were supposed to blow up they found a village that had been slaughtered and burned. Face had wanted to bury the bodies knowing full well that the army would never send a troop that far out to do the grim task but they could not risk staying around for long or even going into the village, not knowing how far the VC had retreated from the place or if they were just waiting for them. Instead they had radioed for Murdock to meet them at the prearranged LZ and gotten out of there to meet him.

"Colonel Smith, I have news for you." A young corporal who was in charge of the camp's radio room came hurrying their way. "Two days ago this came in for you." He handed Hannibal a paper.

Hannibal's mood brightened as he read, "Guys this is good news for a change. You two are both getting promoted. Fifteen days from today at Nah Trang."

BA forgot all about his tiredness. "A promotion, great. I have to inform my mama. She will be so proud. Sergant First Class, that makes me the highest rank in our entire family. She will throw a big party for all my uncles and aunties and cousins, all those that are in the states right now…."

Murdock came around the chopper at this moment, "Hey big guy what's up, you are bouncing with energy. What did you take?"

Hannibal repeated the good news for Murdock, "BA and Face are both getting promoted."

"That's great. Congrats."

BA picked up the rest of his share and walked away rumbling on about what he had to do and whom to inform. Face, who had been quietly packing and sorting the things he had to carry was now also ready to go.

"I'll head for the shower. Should anyone need me I'm at my bunk and don't intent to leave it in the next 48 hours." He slowly trudged away from the chopper.

"What was that? A kid at Christmas and the Grinch? BA over reacted while Face did not react at all."

"Ah Murdock come on, you were there for BA's last promotion. You know how he gets. I have seen the last two. He is always like that."

"Yeah, but the last announcement came just after a weak of R and R. I mean, he was so tired moments ago and now look at him. Even I'm too tired to be insane and I only had to wait by the chopper and not hike round through enemy territory for days."

Hannibal chuckled at that, "Don't tell BA you are too tired to be insane. He may make sure you never get a good night's rest again."

Murdock ignored him and went on," And what was that about Face? You would think with all his talks about high society and the scams to be somebody higher up the ranks he would be the one who is thrilled with the news and immediately start planning away. He did not react at all."

"Don't worry Murdock. It's all the exhaustion. I don't think the news has made it's way from his ears to his brain yet. Once he is rested you will wish he would shut up for a minute. That is when he is not off scamming something or other for the big occasion."

"Not much change then. He always has a running commentary or is off scamming something."

"True, but usually the topic changes from time to time. Come on Murdock, let's follow them and get some rest while we can."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The next morning they woke up to BA walking here and there in the small tent, shifting through things. Hannibal, Ray and Murdock had expected this but Face, who had not been on the Team for more than three months, didn't know what he had coming when BA was up for promotion.

"Arghhh BA, can't you keep it down? People are trying to sleep. It's in the middle of the night."

"What do you want Faceman? It's 8 in the morning and you guys slept since somewhere 5 yesterday afternoon."

"Middle of the night, just as I said." Face muttered and turned over to get some more rest.

"Don't see why you of all people want to sleep more."

That got Face to turn back and sit up, "Me of all people? What do you mean me of all people? I was on the same mission as you and the rest of the team. Or do you think I got more rest than you the last few days? I'm tired and exhausted and after that shit mission I think I'm entitled to sleep for however long I want."

"What bug did you eat? That aint what I'm saying. We are both up for promotion, gotta plan for the big occasion."

"Plan. What do you need to plan? Don't even know whether we will be anywhere near Nha Trang in fifteen days."

"Fourteen."

"Huh?"

"It's fourteen days from today."

"Whatever."

The others had followed the conversation and were now getting up. Sensing he would not get a chance to catch some more sleep, Face got up from his bunk, grabbed his towel and left the tent.

"What's up with him?" BA asked in the general direction of the other three guys who just shrugged.

"Colonel, you don't think it's not being able to bury those bodies, do you?" Murdock asked with concern in his voice.

"I don't know. By now he should be used to the fact that not all bodies in this war get buried. Maybe he has just not seen such a carnage before. Or he is just grumbling because he is still tired. He will come around. BA, what are you looking for anyway?"

"I made a list last time I got promoted. Have to tell the Faceman what he needs to get. This time needs to be bigger than last time. You better all check that your uniforms are top condition."

"Okay, okay, but after coffee." With that Ray left towards the mess hall followed by BA. Hannibal started to move after BA but Murdock held him back.

"What is it, captain?"

"He said 15 days so the news did sink in yesterday." On Hannibal's puzzled look he added, "Face, about the promotion."

"Oh that, don't worry about him Murdock, he'll probably have sucked up whatever is eating at him by lunch time. Let's go grab some coffee and a shower, in whatever order."

BA was busy writing up a list of items needed for his promotion and the party afterwards. He kept thinking of new things and adding. By mid afternoon he had 2 letter sized pages in neatly printed hand written.

Face had avoided the company of his team for most of the day and just returned to their tent.

"Faceman, where've you been? I got ya a list, better get busy getting all my stuff together." With that BA pressed the 2 pages in his hand.

Face was momentarily stunned, something that did not happen often. What did BA think? When had he become his personal supply officer? Just when he wanted to lay into BA, Hannibal started to talk and distracted him.

"I need a new uniform pants, the other one looks worn."

So Hannibal approved of this nonsense? Fine then.

"I need a new uniform jacket and boots. And once you are at it can you get me a copy of the latest spiderman comic, pretty please?"

Face smiled at that. Of course he had already played his connections to get that comic for Murdock. It was due with the next supply run.

"And I need boots, pants and a belt buckle", added Ray.

"Ah yes, get me a new buckle too kid, the old one has some scratches. And some cigars, I'm running low."

Oh no, he was not. Face always made sure Hannibal had a good stock of the finest cigars he could lay his hands on. So that was it, they wanted to test him. This was nothing for the Faceman. He could get all those things in two days, tops, even out here.

"And I need a line to my mama, right after the promotion."

"You need what?", Face's eyes went wide, "Who do you think I am? Miracle Man?"

"Come on Faceman, I know you can do it. Probably talk to your folks all the time. I need to talk to her right afterwards, before they start their party, not when I get a chance some weeks later. Writing will just not do, I'll have the highest rank in my family and mama is going to be so proud and she can't be here to attend. "

This was ridiculous. Face looked to Hannibal to stop this nonsense but instead Hannibal just smirked with a cigar clenched between his teeth and said "Get to work at it Lieutenant."

That was a good excuse. Face needed to get out of there anyway. He was silently fuming and did not want the others to notice since he worried they could mistake it as him not being able to get all the stuff they wanted. That was not the problem. He was the best at the game and it was his job and his position on the team. He just wished they would see reason. The list was one thing, a lot of unnecessary things but easy enough to procure, but the phone call was an entirely different thing. 'Get to work at it Lieutenant' sure, anything to make the big guy happy, wasn't as if he was getting promoted too. And what was this ' Probably talk to your folks all the time' thing about? It stung for more than just the obvious reason. BA really had no idea how time consuming it was to get all the things they kept asking for. Thought he had time to hang around the radio room all day. If he was in there then it was to get his hands on some of the more official stuff they asked for. He could not use the official radios to get most of the things they wanted. And Hannibal had not even jumped to his aid.

But behind all the anger he could understand BA's wish to talk to his mother. He would probably want that too. If he used the official phones it would sure get him court marshaled. Even if he got a call connected, which he could do pulling some scam and convincing the operator that he was authorized, all the calls were recorded so he would sooner or later get caught. But there were always the MARS stations and the one in Nha Trang was not even run by the Marines like most of the others. It was run by the 5th Special Forces which happened to be their own people. This would be good news if only those MARS guys would not have their own chain of command and if BA had not gotten into a fight with them last time they were in Nha Trang. That left two problems. One, they were not exactly on good terms with the MARS guys and two their connections were not reliable. One could never tell when or if they got connected and how long the connection would last. He could sure do it but was it worth it? This would require for him to call a lot of markers, markers that they would need for more important reasons in future. And he would probably owe favors to half the soldiers in Nam when this was over. He had to talk to Hannibal.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

When Face finally went back to their tent he had already made arrangements for some of the things on BA's list. He was almost there when Ray called him, "Hey Face, Hannibal wants everyone at HQ in 10. And did you see Murdock? He went looking for you."

"No, didn't see him. I'll go and check where he is. See you then." He knew Murdock would probably look for him at the supply shed and that is where he found him.

"Hey Face, I was looking for you."

"So I've been told. What does Hannibal have for us?"

"Don't know jet. How is the party planning going? Already got some girls to jump out of cakes? Though personally I would prefer spiderman to swing from the roof."

Face rolled his eyes. "Don't you start too. And just when did those cakes make their way on BA's list. Guess he has an update for me."

"Naahhh," Murdock chuckled, "BA would be shocked. But when you are involved I think we can expect something like that."

"Hey I'm only planning and arranging for BA, organizing cakes and girls that fit inside is a lot of trouble and at the end BA would only kill me as thanks."

"But it's your party too, you are also getting promoted so technically BA can't kill you if you declare the cake your part of the celebration."

"It's BA's party and I don't think he cares about technicalities."

Before Murdock could question Face any further on why he seemed not enthusiastic they had reached HQ and stepped inside. As soon as they entered BA made his way towards Face.

"How's it going man? Did you get everything? And what about my call?"

"Did I get everything? I had what, 2 hours? You think I just call party service and get your order through? Lay off, will you?"

Before BA could get angry Hannibal had their attention. "Okay guys. We have a recon mission coming on tomorrow. We will leave here at 400. It's a small one, only the 5 of us and Murdock will return to base after dropping us off."

"Ahhh, we did not even get a chance for a proper rest." Ray was not too thrilled by the news.

"Don't worry. This is just like R+R. A nice cosy camping trip with a pre-planned route along the countryside attractions. It's …"

"Don't you say it! Anytime you say piece of cake we end up in deep trouble"

"I wasn't going to say it, Face."

"No?"

"No, I thought 'Walk in the park' would be more appropriate since it includes a lot of hiking."

Face just shook his head and decided to keep quiet.

"Come over to the map guys. Murdock will drop us here just behind those hills so we stay hidden. Intel says there is a VC supply chain in the area. We only have to confirm the locations so the targets can be bombed from the air. We have to confirm several spots and will spend 5 days in the area. Blowing them up ourselves would only alert Charly to our presence. There are believed to be storage places for ammo, medical supplies, gas and food here, here, here and here. We will hike over the hills and then head north-east and locate the places one by one. It's not too close to any hot zones so there should not be too many patrols. When we reach the last one we have to head south and circle back to where Murdock dropped us, so the chopper will not alert anyone in the area. At day 5, 1500 you come and pick us up. Any questions?"

There weren't and the guys slowly left the room to go packing. Face stayed back.

"Anything wrong, Face?"

"Uhm, about this call BA wants to make. It would require…"

"I don't want to hear about how you do it. Just get it done. It's your job, you are the supply officer. BA want's to call his mama, you arrange it. Anything else?"

"No."

"Then get ready and get some rest." Sometimes Hannibal felt like in kindergarten. Face was the best at acquiring anything the team wanted. He knew that, Face knew that and the team knew it too. In the three months he had been assigned to him he had gotten everything the team wanted, even things that would have been difficult to get state side. He knew Face had a lot of connections, some of them better left in the dark, and he liked to listen to his tales of how difficult it was to get this or that item when they sat together for a beer. But now was clearly not the time. His mind was on the mission and not on his lieutenant's latest scam.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The mission worked like a charm. They had not met many patrols on their way and easily hid from those they saw without drawing any attention to their presence. Intel had been right for a change, at least on the locations. It was late afternoon on day 3 after Murdock had dropped them and they had just confirmed the last target. What was supposed to be an ammo depot turned out to contain food rations and medical supplies. It was a VC depot anyway and would get blown to the sky by the bombers. They had made good time. Today they would get away from the targets, deeper into the jungle and into even more quiet areas and then set camp for the night. After that they had about one and a half days to make it back to the LZ.

Two hours later Hannibal decided they were far enough south to set up camp for the night and decided on a place."That place over there, behind the formation of trees looks good. Cover from the trees in case we need to hide and a flat enough clearing to not sleep on roots and stones."

"A five star jungle", was Face's sarcastic reply.

The mission was not difficult but included a lot of walking. They were all tired and grateful to drop their packs for the night. Ray had first watch while the others sat together to eat their rations. As soon as they finished their meal BA started on his number one topic again.

"Faceman, you have to get us good hotel rooms at Nha Trang. I hear they have nice ones at the beach. We can't sleep at the base after the celebration. And which restaurant have you booked?"

"Which restaurant have I booked? I don't know about you but I did not get to go to Nha Trang since we had the announcement. How in hell should I have booked something?"

Hannibal looked up at the tone in Face's voice. He had actually snapped at BA. Did the kid have a death wish? Face was just getting started.

"Ever since you got the announcement you are on me with your wish list. Even on the mission you can't lay off. For the past three days you used every chance to tell me things you want. We are in enemy territory and you are thinking about milk, oh, but not the powdered stuff, and fruits. I think the only thing you left out are party huts. You are really grating at my nerves. And just for the record, this is not the first party I organized. You will have a great day, don't worry. And even if I don't get a restaurant and hotel, with all the things you want you can do a picnic right at the base and you are so proud about your new army rank, why not sleep on an army bunk?" With that Face got up and walked some steps away, leaning his back at a tree and facing away from them.

BA was too dumbfounded by Face's outbreak to react instantly, which is why Face got away safely.

"What's wrong with him? We have a big occasion coming up. Needs planning. He behaves as if he has to arrange things for me alone. He's up for promotion too."

"Now BA, calm down. He knows how to organize things and it's not like he could do something out here anyway. Maybe you should give him a little space."

"Just want things to be perfect, man"

A while later Hannibal released Ray to take the next watch. When he was satisfied that there was no danger he turned and watched his men. Ray and BA were asleep at the place they had selected. Face had not come back there. He was curled up at the foot of the tree he had leaned against earlier on. Something was eating at the kid but he had not yet figured out what it was. Sure it could not have been the bodies on this last mission. Though Face had hated leaving the place like this he knew they had no other option. He would not fret over it for so long. Maybe he was seeing things and Face was just not used to the fact that the usual growling BA could be a chatter box when it came to making his mama proud. But Hannibal had a feeling there was more to it. They way Face kept his distance from the others, how he did not join in the friendly banter or how he did not speak much at all reminded him of how Face had been in the beginning. His thoughts traveled 3 months back.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"Hannibal, I hope this is not your 24 year old combat experienced supply officer." Murdock had just entered Hannibal's office after a young Lieutenant had left said office, making his way towards the team's quarters.

"That's what his file says."

"I know that file and we all saw the picture in it. Did he decide to sent his younger brother? I mean, come on Hannibal, this guy is nowhere near 24. He can't have much experience."

"And you know all that from throwing a glance at him?"

"A blind man could see that."

By now Ray and BA who had been at the teams quarters entered the office.

"Hannibal,…"

Hannibal cut Ray short, "I know, I know. He does not look like a 24 year old combat hardened soldier."

"Oh, you already sorted that. Then why did you send him over to our quarters and when are you getting us a new one."

"I'm not getting us a new one."

"Hannibal, you can't mean it. Think of our last 2 supply officers. I'm tired of washing their blood out of my chopper. Just when you get used to them they get blown to pieces by doing some rooky mistake or because they freeze in a difficult situation."

"We are holed up here for at least the next two weeks until BA's arm is healed properly and it's not like supply officers are standing in line to join us. He is assigned to us for now and we will test him in training. See if what his file says is true."

"Yeah, better wait for me to heal. Might need me to haul this one back out of the jungle" BA's scowl was even deeper than usual.

"And while you're at it", Murdock added," find out why his last team got rid of him. Must have had a reason."

Face did not have a warm welcome on the team but he didn't seem to mind. He was fine with being left alone, didn't talk much and gave only short answers when asked. Hannibal had them put up one of his favorite obstacle courses, which did nothing to get Face on the good side with Ray and Murdock since they had to run it too. Everybody was surprised when Face, instead of being winded after a day at Hannibal's training, finished first.

"You did well."

"Thanks Colonel. Anything else for today?"

"It pays to just have had a hard boot camp training in the states, isn't it." Murdock stated a bit out of breath.

Face did not rise to the bait but waited to be dismissed and headed back to take a shower. What disturbed Hannibal was that he had seen him scamming supplies and he seemed to be a totally different person then. Open and friendly, chatting with everyone, just as if he played a role.

After just some days supplies started turning up in their quarters, things they had not requested for but mentioned in conversations among each other like certain food items and clothing that needed replacements. BA took a sudden liking to Peck one morning.

"Hey BA, why are you wearing this smug smile? What did they put in your breakfast?" Ray was amused by the unfamiliar sight.

"Milk. Proper fresh milk. Peck managed to get me fresh milk, not this powdered rubbish we were getting. Man is good at his job."

"Yeah, he sure is one hell of a supply officer."

This went on for some time without much change. BA and Ray were friendly, Peck was polite but kept his distance and Murdock stayed doubtful. After a while Hannibal called his team together while Face was on a supply run.

"I checked our new supply officer's file."

"And it took you full 10 days? Can't be too good then." Murdock was still full of doubt.

"Oh it is good. It was not easy to find out what was forged and what not."

"So he did forge it."

"Let me finish Murdock. Yes he did, part anyway. Obvious for all of us, he is not 24. Plus some jail time and accusations against him seem to have conveniently got lost. He wasn't this good at scamming in the beginning."

Murdock grunted in disapproval while the other three grinned. Hannibal sobered and continued.

"But his combat experience is correct. Though he hasn't been here for long, he made enough experience in the field. He was with a unit that was stationed close to the front line and went over the wire often. Their last combat was just 5 days before he was assigned to us, that's why it wasn't in his file jet. They were a team of 12 and got ambushed quite some way into enemy territory. 8 died, 2 were injured. Peck and one Sergeant were the only uninjured. He outwitted the enemy, dogged around them and made sure all 4 of them got back to base. Took them two days."

"And how do you know this is true?"

"Because I asked the others. One was medically discharged but I found the other two. One is still recovering and one was reassigned. They both confirmed that, had Peck not shown nerves where all others didn't, they would all be dead now." At that point the conversation ended because Peck was spotted coming back.

He proved to be a very useful team member and slowly opened up to the others. Surprisingly he was best buddies with Murdock in a rather short time. They even run scams together and Hannibal had to constantly bail them out of trouble.

But now Face seemed to have changed back to his quiet self, doing the job but keeping to himself and Hannibal didn't know why. Maybe Murdock could draw him out of his funk when they got back to base.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Face's little rant got BA to leave him alone for the time being but did not stop him from continuously talking about the promotion. With nothing to do than but walk back in relatively safe territory they were not strewn out too far. When BA was not on point or rear duty he kept close to the one in the middle to talk. Face volunteered for point duty as often as possible just to be left alone. When they stopped for the night they had already reached the hills. Just had to hike over and to the arranged LZ with Murdock and they were done. It was left with about 2 hours walk and the mood was good. Only Face seemed to get more agitated and withdrawn each day and Hannibal just couldn't put his finger on the reason. As soon as they had stopped for the night Face had set off for a recon around the place, without even being prompted. That was nowhere near his, or anybodies, normal behavior after a long day of walking and constantly being on guard. Hannibal anyway knew better than to confront Face on what was wrong while they were on a mission and he did not even have a clue to what it might be. When Face came back the usual topic was on.

"Hannibal, did you think I would make it to Sergeant First Class when I joined your unit?"

"No one would have thought so. The best hope most people had was for you to stay out of jail. Shows what a great commander I am, should get promoted for that too."

Upon hearing this Face did not even come close to them but stayed a safe distance away, leaning against a tree, eating his ration and falling asleep until his watch came on. The next day went by uneventful too and they finally made it back to base by late evening. After a shower and a change of clothes Face was on his way out of the team's quarters.

"Hey Face, where are you going?"

"Oh, hi Murdock, didn't even see you coming in. Need to work on BA's wish list, we are left with only 9 days to the promotion and today is almost over."

Hannibal had watched the exchange between his men from where he was resting on his bunk and was relieved to see Face smiling and interacting normal with Murdock. Maybe he was seeing things after all. Face came back late that night and was up before the others. He wasn't seen most of the next day too. Hannibal only got glimpses of him, happily chatting with other soldiers here and there, probably conning them in or out of something, and arranging whatever was needed for their party. He was happy to see his lieutenant was in his element and no longer in a fool mood.

The next day they got orders to move to a base close to Quang Tri in the very north of South Vietnam.

"Ah man, how are we supposed to get all the stuff Faceman has arranged for if we have to leave here."

"BA, you underestimate me. We are moving bases all the time, I took that into consideration, though it's a setback, I had just established all he necessary connections . All the stuff I got so far is going straight to Nha Trang. The only thing I wonder is whether we will get there in time."

"What do you mean? I won't be late for my promotion."

"Quang Tri is at the wrong end of the country. We are now close to Dak To which is already north of Nha Trang. If we move to Quang Tri that doubles the distance between us and Nha Trang. Plus they are not sending us up there for nothing. Means if we finish whatever mission they have in stock for us in time we have to get ourselves a flight back to Nha Trang and there aren't too many flights from up there."

Hannibal had an arm over Face's shoulder and a broad grin on his face, "I'm sure you'll arrange something for us to get to Nha Trang in time."

Face just rolled his eyes. "Sure. Speaking of time, I got some things to arrange, see you later." With that he was gone again.

They left the base in the afternoon and reached Quang Tri just as it was getting dark. From there they got a chopper to go to the small base they had been called to. Face had slept throughout the journey. Hannibal watched him with some amusement. No wonder he was tired, after scamming and coning for an entire day he must be exhausted. He was glad that Face's mood had changed back to normal. He was probably just nervous because he had his first real promotion coming on and frustrated because during the 5 day mission he could not get anything arranged. Once he was back in his element everything seemed normal again.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

When the chopper set down a corporal came hurrying towards it and addressed Hannibal.

"Colonel, sir, the camp commander has left base and is due to arrive tomorrow 1200 to brief you and your team. Those quarters over there have been assigned to you." With that he took off again.

"Tomorrow 1200? You mean I just left a base where I had set up all my connections to come here and wait around? Oh this is just getting better and better" Face was fuming. He could really have done with another evening at the old base. He was in the middle of arranging BA's call and now he had no means to check if everything went well, he would only find out when they reached Nha Trang. He had tried to get word to the sergeant of his former unit who happened to be a friend of a marine who was a friend of one of the MARS guys stationed at Da Nang, who happened to be a close friend to the MARS guy going to the small bases with a portable device, who again knew one of the MARS guys at Nha Trang. He had instructed said sergeant to make the first contact and make sure the chain went on. He had also told him what bribe he could offer and how much he was willing to pay. Problem was, the soldier he had used as messenger was due to arrive back at base the evening after they left so he didn't know whether it had worked. Now all he could do was wait around and hit the MARS station in Nha Trang as soon as he got there to see if his path had been smoothened a bit.

"So guys, what do we do with this wonderful evening. What do you say, we check out what the mess has?" Ray wanted to use the opportunity to get boozed. They were sure to get a nice rest up to noon.

"I'm game, you guys coming?" Murdock was turning his gaze on the rest of the team who were just setting down their packs in their assigned quarters.

BA and Hannibal nodded. There wasn't anything else to do.

"Face, what about you buddy?"

As much as he wanted to be with Murdock he knew BA would get started soon. He could join them but it would only result in him getting drunk to block out BA's banter. Could as well sleep and use the morning for some more arrangements. "Naaah, I'm tired. You go ahead."

"You sure? Come on, I need to catch up on your stories, didn't get to hear any in days."

"Next time Murdock. I'm really winded."

"Come on Captain, there's no telling when the mess runs dry in those far-off bases." Murdock took one last look at Face before he followed Hannibal, catching up with him after some meters.

"Colonel, I'm getting worried about our Faceman."

"No need Murdock, he was still behaving funny on the last mission, just got back to normal after we returned. Hasn't gotten a good rest in days."

"But he slept throughout the journey here."

"That's not the same than actual sleep. He's fine, let him rest."

Face was up early the next morning and left the tent before any of his team members woke up. Not that he could do much from here, but he anyway tried to run some contacts and get some things from BA's list arranged. If nothing else he could at least make fresh contacts that could come in handy later. It beat sitting around and listening to BA and the rest going on about the promotion any time of the day. He made sure to keep an eye out for the arrival of the camp commander and only returned to their quarters when he knew the commander was back.

"Hey Face, had a good rest?"

"Sure Murdock, thanks. Feeling more refreshed now. Was it worth going to the mess last night?" He was not feeling refreshed and could not sleep well since the announcement for their promotion had come, but telling Murdock that he was only avoiding BA's company would probably not be of any help.

"Wasn't anything special but sure was worth to hang out with the guys, though I missed you there."

"Sirs, the camp commander wants to see you." Saved from Murdock's scrutiny by yesterdays corporal.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

The briefing room was tiny and hot and they were sweating before the camp commander even started to speak. "The mission we called you for is blowing an important bridge to the sky. The VC have become stronger recently and we just discovered the reason. They were able to hide a bridge from our intelligence so far. It's strong enough to allow trucks to pass and covered by trees so it's hidden from the view of the recon planes. After we got to know two teams went there for recon but found themselves unable to get close enough to blow it. There are tall trees all over the place but they cut away all the smaller ones and cleared the ground. Anybody trying to get close will be spotted. In addition the ground has been mined. There are VC guards on top of the brigde, two on each side, and down by the riverbed, two by each of the two pillars. Which makes eight guards. The mission has to be carried out within 36 hours since intel says more supplies and even troops are coming in by then. I'll give you 20 of my men. To me the only way is to overrun them, kill the guards and blow up the bridge."

"Why not bomb it from the air if you know where it is?"

"The foliage is thick and covers the river completely at this place. Beside there's anti aircraft all over the place and, well, it's not in Vietnam. It's part of the Ho Chi Minh trail in Laos. That's also the reason why you need to hike in and out."

"I'm not going in with 20 men I haven't trained with. There's no way to overrun the place, we would all be dead before we get close enough to do any damage. The guards have the cover while we are in the open. We'll go in alone and see what can be done. If it's not possible to blow it we can at least give you more exact coordinates than the previous recon did and then this bridge can be blown from the sky. Whether we do it from the ground or you do it from top they'll anyway know it was Americans and the government will have to think of a believable story. We'll leave tomorrow morning 400 hours, that way we should reach the site before it gets dark. That will leave us with about 18 hours to get the job done. Questions? No, good. It's now early afternoon, get ready and get a good rest before we leave."

That effectively ended the briefing. The team did as was told and got their gear together, then turned in for some rest before leaving at the arranged time.

"I should have trained to be a pilot. I really hate all those hiking missions." Face sat next to Murdock in the chopper since there was no co pilot and he preferred to talk to Murdock over the headphones than to follow the shouted conversation in the back.

"But Face, I'm missing all the fun. Camping out in the wilderness, telling ghost stories around campfires in the night, roasting marshmallows…"

"Looking out for Charlie, listening to BA rambling on about this darn promotion all the time, really Murdock, you can have my place and I'll fly the chopper. Think you can teach me how to do it in…ehm…how long do we have left?"

"Five minutes, not a chance buddy. You'll have to hike some more."

Some more turned into eleven hours. They reached the bridge around 4 in the afternoon. Face and Ray had gone for recon and just met up with the team again.

"Place is heavily guarded, for a bridge anyway. 4 down by the river bed, next to the pillars, one on each side. 4 more in front of the bridge, two at each side on the road leading towards the bridge, facing away from it. Nobody on the bridge itself. Intel's been almost correct for a change."

"Okay, Ray?"

"Minefield around it. Only way to get close is by using the road or coming through the river."

"Or through the trees," Face fell in.

Hannibal's face lit up. "I have a plan."

"Gee, now that's something new."

"Face, do you think you can reach the bridge by climbing from one tree to the next?"

"What am I, a monkey? Sure can or I wouldn't have mentioned it."

"He has experience colonel, how do you think he gets to escape from the bedrooms of the beautiful daughters when the father comes home unexpected?" Ray's banter was ignored as Hannibal was now in full on planning mode.

"Face, I want you to get to that tree with the thick branches hanging over the bridge. Then you decend on a rope, place the charges, climb back up and get lost. We will cause a commotion as soon as you are in position to draw those guards at the roadside away from the bridge. I hope they'll go and leave guarding the bridge to those down, at least that's what I would do. From where they are they can guard the road but not see the top of the bridge. It will also take them a while to climb up and replace those on top, the river bed is quite steep there and they have to keep an eye on the road. We can't have them find the charges though. Think a minute will be enough for you to climb back up and get a safe distance away?"

"One minute as in 60 seconds? Yeah I think that will do."

"Make sure you take the rope back up. Don't need to tip them off. Once it blows the attention will be drawn back to the bridge, meaning to you. You better hurry up. We'll circle around and meet you here." Hannibal pointed at a place on the map. "You have 10 minutes to make it to the rendezvous. If you are not there we'll move out without you." Hannibal knew full well that he would never leave a man behind but putting on a little extra pressure was never wrong.

"Don't worry colonel, I'm never late for a rendezvous."

Once they were set Face started up the tree and moved from one to the next. He didn't make a sound and seeing him was difficult when one knew he was there, impossible when not. It was always a pleasure to watch Face climbing through trees. The foliage provided an excellent cover. When Hannibal saw that he had reached his position he gave the signal to start. They weren't in any position to shoot the guards since they were too far but they shot in their direction anyway and sure enough they started to advance. Only three of them left the place however, the forth went to the middle of the bridge to guard it. Shooting him was not an option since it would draw the attention of the guards down by the riverbed. Face fixed a rope to a branch and waited until the man was directly under him. He dropped down, bringing the rope with him for later use, and snapped the man's neck. It all happened so fast and silent that the VC never knew what hit him. Face hoped that this one staying behind meant the arrangement was such that the others remain in position and not climb up. He quickly placed the charges right on top of the pillars to do maximum damage from where he was and set the timer. He climbed back up and started moving away. He forgot about the rope. The dead man was enough to tip anyone off. Just some seconds before the bridge blew a guard spotted him and opened fire. Face was only halfway back over the minefield and still within shooting distance but luckily wasn't hit.

The bridge blew before the guard had a chance to take another shot. Face hoped the one shot would not have given his position away to any returning guards and hurried to the end of the minefield and dropped out of the tree. Pumped full of adrenalin he run towards the rendezvous site. When he noticed he was not followed the adrenalin ebbed away and gave way to pain. He just now noticed that he had twisted his knee when dropping out of the tree. It didn't seem too bad at first but was increasing and he could feel some swelling that was making it impossible not to limp. However, as he neared the rendezvous' site he tried to conceal the limp as well as possible. He couldn't even tell why he did it, it was just something he was used to, did it without even thinking anymore. He chuckled softly to himself at the effort. They had probably left some time ago, he had not been able to run, just walk as fast as he could, and the ten minutes he was given had long since passed. Here he was trying to conceal a limp that wasn't really possible to conceal for an audience of thin air.

To his immense surprise his musings were stopped by Ray, who broke out of the bushes in front of him. "Ray, what are you doing here? Late too?"

"Huh? We're waiting for you man. What's wrong with you?"

"We?"

"We as in the A-Team. Did you drop of the tree and fall on your head?"

Face took some more steps towards the bushes and heard BA bickering.

"Darn bushes, now I have a scratch, have to look spotless on my promotion picture and now that."

Face stepped closer and saw what BA was ranting on about, a little scratch on his upper arm that was dribbling some blood.

"You're late Lieutenant."

"Took his time. He's been limping over instead of running."

Face shot Ray a dirty glance but other than that stayed silent.

"Did you get hit?"

"No, it's nothing. Let's move, that blast must have drawn half of the county this way."

"Yeah, was a nice bang."

"Face's right, we've been here too long, Ray you're at point, I'll take the rear."

"No I'll take the rear."

"Last time I checked I was still in command. Move it lieutenant. It's getting dark. We'll not stop for the night but get to Murdock. Place could be swarming with VC before we know it."

"Ah man, you wanna crawl through this darn bush in the night? I'll get more scratches."

"Don't worry big guy, with our Faceman here we'll be slow anyway, you can dodge the bushes when they jump you."

"Let's move instead of standing around. I'm not the one who's slowing us down." Face moved and effectively took over Ray's front position but not for long. Ray was next to him after a few seconds.

"Ah man c'mon. I didn't mean anything by it, just joking."

"M'not mad."

"Better fall back before Hannibal gets mad about you not following his orders."

Face did, his knee was hurting anyway and he had some trouble to keep the pace. Soon he was next to BA and within Hannibal's earshot. BA was still rumbling on about this scratch.

"What's your problem man? You'll be wearing a brand new uniform jacket, just have to keep yourself from ripping out the sleeved for some hours and nobody' s gonna see that scratch. Shut up already."

There it was again, Face's death wish, and Hannibal had thought that phase had passed.

BA turned on the spot but Face held his stare. Something about this was off but Hannibal couldn't place it. All he knew was he had to intervene or Face would not have to worry about the VC anymore.

"BA, go relieve Ray, kid, move it, we need to get out of here."

BA grumbled but went, not before sending some threats Face's way. Face fell in behind Ray and tried his best to keep up the pace without limping too bad. After about ten Minutes Hannibal called a halt.

"What is it? Seen something?"

"Yeah, I've seen something. Kid, you're limping bad. What happened?"

"Told you it was nothing. Can't believe you stop us over this, we're wasting time here. Thought you were supposed to watch our rear."

"I did, I watched your rear in particular and didn't like what I saw."

"Well, I didn't ask you to marry me."

"Cute. Pants down or sleeve up, your decision lieutenant."

"Huh? I meant what I said about not getting married to you."

"Stop stalling and let me see your leg."

"And that's making it better?"

"Lieutenant!"

"Seriously, I twisted my knee a little while jumping from the tree, nothing too serious and you looking at it won't change anything, we're wasting time here."

Hannibal briefly considered to call him on the chain of command again but the kid had a point. If there wasn't any flow of blood to be stilled he really couldn't do anything. He decided to just watch but that was easier said than done since it was getting dark fast. Fortunately so for Face since it concealed his limp and slowed their pace.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

The pace stayed down due to exhaustion of all involved when the sun came up again. They kept moving with only short breaks of a few minutes here and there. While they had used eleven hours in, the darkness and their exhaustion slowed them so much that the hike back took them over sixteen hours. They reached Murdock just after ten the next morning and were all utterly exhausted. The flight back happened in silence, even BA had stopped talking about the promotion for once. Murdock brought the bird down around lunch time and before the blades had even come to a stand still the camp commander came hurrying their way requesting a debriefing.

Hannibal didn't even acknowledge him but slowly climbed out of the chopper where Face and BA already stood. He brought out a cigar, accepted the light Face was holding up and only after having taken the first puff did he turn to the camp commander, a short and thick man.

"Look pal, the bridge is history. We just walked all over that darn jungle and didn't get a rest, let alone sleep, since we started here yesterday morning. If you wanna know how we did it and how loud the bang was you'll have to wait until I had a shower, a meal and some hours of sleep." He walked away leaving the man behind. Hannibal was all army and would usually have done the debriefing before anything but for some reason he despised this man and he knew he could do this without facing any consequences, after all they were the A-Team. It was just fun from time to time.

They all forgot about the food and the shower and just collapsed on their assigned bunks. Face, always a light sleeper, woke first some hours later. He would have rolled over but his stomach rumbled and his knee throbbed, so instead he turned to his back and took account. He had almost all the things for BA's party but still no hotel rooms and no call to mama Baracus. First he needed to get them a transport to Nah Trang though. He stiffly got up from his bunk and out the door. He had two days to get the whole bunch to Nah Trang and still needed to get his hands on a few things on BA's list. It wasn't until he was out the door that he noticed the darkness. No way was he going to get anything sorted today. Instead he grabbed a towel and went to the showers.

Hannibal too woke a little later and felt it would serve the fat guy right to get his debriefing now in the middle of the night. That got his mood up and he happily sauntered over to his quarters to get debriefed by a bleary eyed major in jammies. By the time he came back Face was back on his bunk, changed into a fresh dress and the hair still wet from the shower. They all enjoyed the rest while it lasted. When they woke up the next morning Face was already dressed and ready to go out. He was just limping towards the door, when Hannibal called him back.

"Kid?"

"Yeah?"

"Let the infirmary have a look at your leg."

"Hmm."

He had no intention to do so but that was highly classified information. It was just twisted, there wasn't a thing any doctor could do, he hated infirmaries and he wasn't about to waste good time there. Not when he had a transport to arrange.

As expected there was no flight that would take them to Nah Trang in time. Even after trying everything he could and spending hours negotiating and calling in favors the fact remained, there simply wasn't any flight going to Nah Trang or anywhere close in the next two days. The rest of the team was sitting in the mess hall enjoying their lunch when he met up with them.

"Two days to the big event, one and a half actually. Oh man, Mama's gonna be so proud of me. Got us good seats in the plane Faceman?"

Face suddenly lost his appetite and more or less dropped his tray on the table. He glared daggers at BA. Couldn't he drop the subject already? What did the guy think? This wasn't an airport and they weren't waiting for their flight to Hawaii. They were in a god damn war. The next airstrip was miles away and it didn't usually see a plane coming more often than once a week, and those that came didn't have seats, not for passengers anyway. And since when was BA so keen on flying?

Hannibal sensed trouble and decided to interfere before the two of them could go at each other again. "Got us any transport to Nah Trang kid?"

"We have two options. Join the truck transporting supplies to Da Nang in two hours. There's a supply plane leaving from there to Phuoc Long tomorrow morning and then we can get another supply truck to Nah Trang. Should arrive somewhere tomorrow early afternoon. Or we go with the supply truck to Da Nang get another one from there to Chu Lai then to Dak To then to Pleiku then to Qui Nhon and then to Nah Trang but if we miss one or run into trouble along the road we ain't gonna make it in time."

"We take the first option, BA Baracus ain't gonna miss his promotion. Why can't you get us a plane? Thought you can get anything."

"I've been folding paper planes but you're too heavy for them."

There it was again, the death wish. If the kid went on like this…Hannibal wasn't sure how much longer he could distract BA. "BA, how's your party planning coming together? Anything more you need Face to organize?" Maybe pointing out that he still needed Face for now would do the trick.

BA replied while glaring at Face "It's all on the list and you better get every single item."

Face was going to ask 'Or what?' but Murdock distracted him before he could do so.

"Face I miss a comic book. It came out a special edition last three weeks and I need it. You have to get it for me, it's a spider man special, please say you can."

'Anything that hasn't got a connection to the promotion.' "Sure Murdock, I'll see what I can do buddy." They chatted on and soon found themselves at the back of a local truck, also called a bone shaker. They quickly realized it deserved that name. The ride was hell on all of them, even on Hannibal who got to sit up front, and did nothing to Face's throbbing knee. In addition to the shaking they ran into car trouble in the middle between the two bases and BA had to help the driver to repair the vehicle while the rest of them guarded the place. It was dangerous standing on the road like that, especially when it got dark. They needed hours to patch the thing back up and then it was practically crawling along the road. The Team had to stay alert looking out into the night for possible threats. They finally made it to Da Nang just after 4 in the morning. Knowing that the plane would leave around noon they set their watches to 11 hours and instructed the corporal that showed them their bunks to wake them should the plane leave early, everybody apart from Face, he set his watch to 6 hours.

Face woke up even before his watch could make a sound. He quietly slipped out of the room and started getting his connections warmed up. By eleven he had done all he could from this place to get the rest of the things on BA's list, some were still missing though and couldn't be seen to before reaching Nah Trang. He noticed that his knee could have used some rest too, as did the rest of his body, but it couldn't be helped. He had to make sure BA's party would be great. Even if he despised all this circus around the promotion, deep down he could understand that BA would be proud and want everything to be perfect. The plane didn't leave before two in the afternoon so he got some rest after all.

Because the flight was delayed they missed the truck to Nha Trang and had to wait to get the next one. Luckily there was another one in the late afternoon and they finally arrived at the Nha Trang base just after sun set. BA's mood got up the closer they got to their location and he was chatting on about his promotion without a break. It definitely didn't do anything to Face's mood but he was too exhausted to pick a fight with BA.

"Okay boys, the promotion is set for tomorrow 1600 hours. Get some sleep, especially you two, you wouldn't want to have bags under your eyes from luck of sleep."

Face grumbled something inaudible, dropped his bag from the truck and climbed after it. Without turning back he limped off to where he knew their quarters would be.

"What was that? And where is he going?" Murdock was at a loss of words.

"Don't look at me fool, he's been behaving strange ever since we got the announcement."

"You're the one behaving out of character." Ray quipped as he dropped from the truck.

"Colonel?"

"I don't know Murdock, something's eating at him ever since we returned from that mission and got the announcements but I don't know what." Watching his retreating back he made a mental note to find out about his leg next time he saw him.

Again it was a corporal that came over to show them their bunks. Hannibal wasn't surprised to be pointed in the very same direction Face had vanished to earlier. He wasn't also surprised at what he found inside the tent. A brand new uniform for BA at the bed he usually occupied, New pants, jacket and a belt for Hannibal at the bed next to the door, the one he usually occupied, along with a box of cigars. A stack of comic books and the ordered clothes for Murdock on the bed at the left side of the far wall, Face's bag at the bed next to Murdock's and all the things Ray had asked for at the bed he usually occupied. In front of every bed, with the exception of Face's, stood a new pair of boots in the right size. The corner of the room that had no bed was filled with boxes and crates with all kind of things in it. And no Face to be seen.

"Wow, look at that. It's Christmas." Murdock stormed past Hannibal, leaped on his bunk and was soon lost in his comics.

"Watch it fool, you'll get wrinkles in your new uniform." BA went over to pick it from the bed and hang it on one of the tent posts.

"Wow, our LT is the best. Look at these boots, they're not just new, they're new and polished. And everything was delivered to the right bunk, it's amazing." Ray was inspecting everything as he spoke.

BA had a grin on his face as he was looking around. "Probably got his own things delivered to tonight's prearranged date."

"Can't hold that against him, it's his last chance getting laid as a second lieutenant."

Murdock was too busy reading to join into the banter and Hannibal doubted that it was the case. Something seemed odd about Face. But as time passed and they had all showered and eaten and Face still hadn't come back he started to also believe that he had a date. 'At least it should get his mood up.'


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Meanwhile Face had limped all the way to the MARS station at the far end of the base. This one was run by the 5th special forces Nah Trang. The signboard said 'Voice of the green beret', their very own people and not the marines for a change. This should have made things very easy had BA not picked a fight with just this MARS guy over a call that didn't go through to his mother at her birthday. He hoped his arrangements had worked and he was ready to talk to him, last time he had told them in no uncertain terms that none of them should ever come back to his station after they had pulled BA off of him.

About ten guys were waiting around but he knew the waiting list would be much longer. They would write their name and come back from time to time to check the progress. If he now put BA's name there he would probably get to call his mother in about three days. As he passed the guys standing around to get to the door he was held back by his collar.

"Hey Peck, where do you think you're going? We're all waiting to go inside, put your name on the list and get lost."

"I don't want to make a call, just talk to the guy."

"Why don't I believe you?"

"Look, I'm just here to talk to him. I won't even get near the radio, you would hear that anyway."

"You're not getting past us so easily, we've all been waiting for long. How about you show up with a beer for each of us and we'll let you pass."

'Oh man' Face run a hand through his hair. He had expected trouble inside but not outside too. "Which of you is the last to go?"

A young sergeant stepped forward. "That would be me."

"Can you do me a favor pal? I just came from a mission and I'm real tired, twisted my knee too and just came out here to check something for a friend. I'm really not up to limping all the way back to the Mess tend and carrying a crate of beer here. Can you go for me? Just ask for Frank he'll give you a whole crate and put it on my tab."

The guy eyed him. He really looked worn out and they didn't have a beef with him. They just wanted to take advantage since he was known to organize everything in no time.

"Okay, no troubles. Hey Bob, join me." Together they left and Face was allowed to pass.

His arrangements had worked to the extent that the guy knew he was coming and was willing to talk to him, but nothing more. He had received a whole box of whiskey as bribe and that was just enough to allow the members of the A-Team back on the waiting list, nothing more.

"Look, I told you I need the call tomorrow at five in the afternoon, some minutes here and there won't matter but it has to be around that time."

"Just put your name on the waiting list, you'll see where it ends, maybe if you get lucky you'll have your call around that time…if you can convince about half the people on the list to let you have your call first."

"I had someone contact you days ago, let's just take that as having put my name there in time, okay?"

"If you had put your name there by the time the guy contacted me and brought the booze, hmmm, lets see….ahhh, your call was due about two days ago, sorry pal, you're late."

"Oh come on, let's negotiate a price, tomorrow at five for 15 minutes, I know we can come to an agreement."

"15 minutes?"

"Yeah, that's enough, I really don't want to use more of your precious time."

"15 minutes, are you nuts? Everyone gets 5 minutes and you know that."

"Just put my name there along with BA and Hannibal, that's 15 minutes then and you don't even have to reconnect, just one connection, you even get to have a 15 minutes break, come on man."

"That's just not possible, how am I gonna explain to the ones waiting?"

"I'll do the explanation, you know I can."

"That's gonna cost you."

Now that was a step in the right direction.

"What do you want?"

"You're a second lieutenant…and from tomorrow a first…tell you what, I want one month salary worth for a first lieutenant."

"One month? How do you think I'll get that amount of money? Come on, something else, what about new boots or cigarettes or chocolates or whatever you want, I'll get it."

"Then get me the money. My wife's gonna give birth next month, we can use every cent."

"You really want 486 Dollars for a call? I can't get that much money up to tomorrow."

"Are you kidding me? Tomorrow is pay day and you're five people, just put some money together, it's no big deal."

Face knew when he had lost and he was kind of glad the guy didn't ask for the allowances in addition to the basic pay, that would have made things impossible. "So you're saying if I show up with the money you'll connect him and let him talk for 15 minutes?"

"That's the deal, if the connection doesn't get cut earlier that is."

"And if that happens?"

"I'll make the connection and then he has 15 minutes. If it cuts and I have to connect again that's his problem, it doesn't increase his time."

"Okay, deal."

They shook hands and Face left the place. He went away a bit and then sat down on a barrel. 'Damn, those calls are supposed to be free, I can't very well ask the guys to give their money for it. Hannibal will think I can't get my job done. Bad enough that I have to ask them to pay for the hotel. How do I get that amount of cash.' He had planned to pay for the hotel himself as his gift to BA and had that money ready but now he would need it for the call. And it wasn't nearly enough. The guy was right, tomorrow was pay day but he had an arrangement that only 50 Dollars went his way and the rest straight to Father Maghill. He couldn't disappoint the kind priest, especially now that Christmas was close. Initially the priest had asked him why he was sending all his money and that he was going to keep it for Face, so Face had made up a story that he had told others about the orphanage and it wasn't all his money but a donation from a lot of soldiers. That had made the priest proud and Face feel so bad. He had lied to the man and it was a sin, but then again killing was a sin too and he was doing so almost daily out here, what was a little lie. The kids were more important than his morals. And they were more important than BA's call, but that call had to come on too or Hannibal would think he's a looser. Face sight, he had some 75 Dollars left that he had saved to buy the guys some Christmas presents and then the 50 he had planned to use for the hotel rooms. He was too tired tonight to concentrate on gambling so that was out of the question. Earlier he had made arrangements for a three day pass for each member of the team. He needed only tomorrow so he could actually sell his two days and then there were still some people who owed him. If he collected most of it he should get enough money together. Maybe he could also borrow a little from somebody but he didn't actually have close friends outside the team. And borrowing from someone on the Team wasn't an option, he would have to explain why he had no money on pay day.

He slowly took off toward the office he was going to pick the three-day passes from.

"Hi Oliver."

"Hi Face."

"Do you have our passes ready?"

"No, you said you would come for them tomorrow morning."

"That's right, can I make some changes? Can you change mine to one day and my other two days get someone else's name on it?"

"Hmm, well…oh don't turn this look on me, okay for you I'll do it. Who's it gonna be?"

"I'll tell you in 30 minutes. Bye." Face turned and left, leaving behind a baffled looking Oliver.

Face went straight to the Mess Tend to pick out his 'victim' of the day. Those that had a pass to leave base the next day usually showed off there and any guy who looked jealous enough was a potential customer. Face watched for only about 10 minutes until he had made out his man.

"Hey pal, you look like you could use some company."

"No kidding man."

"Why are you hanging out alone, where's the rest of your platoon?"

"Over there, the guys with the day passes. Today's just not my day. Got a letter from my girl saying she was tired of waiting and moved on. Of all the people she went for my cousin. I mean, I'm gonna meet them every Christmas, Easter and other family meeting."

"That's tough."

"And as if that's not enough for a day, all my buddies got day passes and I didn't apply for one. Wanted to stay on base to call my girl tomorrow, would have been our anniversary."

"Damn. They don't appreciate what they've got. I've been trying to get a phone installed at my mother's apartment so I can call her but I never get the money together." That was as close to the truth as it would get. If he had a mother he would of course do so.

Within a short time they were done negotiating and Face had sold his pass for 250 Dollars. He went back to give the details to Oliver who promised to get everything ready and signed by the next morning and then went in search of people who owed him little favors he could cash in or actual money.

As he limped back to their tent around midnight he had made arrangements that promised him to have 500 Dollars in cash by noon the next day. He was asleep before he even laid down properly.

The next morning, some people would call it night, BA was up before anybody else. He made enough noise to make sure all others were up within minutes.

"BA, what in the hell possessed you to make such a noise. Can't a guy get some sleep around here?"

'Definitely a death wish.' Hannibal thought and decided to intervene seeing the look on BA's face that was a clear indication for a soon to follow 'speech' with his fists. "Face, don't you have some last minute arrangements to make and need to be up anyway?"

Why couldn't they just all leave him alone? "And what do you suggest I arrange at four in the morning while my …ehhm…business partners are still asleep?"

"Victims you mean." Ray couldn't resist to throw in while stiffening a yawn himself.

"You mean to tell me you haven't done all the arrangements for my promotion today?" BA had drawn Face up by the collar and was nose to nose with him.

"Actually big guy, Face too…." Murdock wanted to intervene but Face cut him off.

"Sorry I was busy staying alive in a damn jungle." He spat. "Feel free to kill me but then you have to sleep on your bunk tonight. You better wait until I got you your darn hotel room."

"Nobody talks to me…."

"Sergeant, enough, put him down, now."

"Hannibal…"

"I said now. Do you want to receive your promotion from behind bars for slugging an officer?"

That did the trick. BA put him down, but not without a shove that made him fall back on his bunk. He then grabbed his towel and marched out of the tent.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

"You better get lost before he comes back or I can't guarantee you won't wear a black eye for your promotion."

"As if I would care." Face muttered while picking himself up.

"What was that lieutenant?"

"Nothing. I'll be in town."

"I'll get you a day pass."

"Not necessary, got one already."

"How?"

" 'Arrange everything that's needed', don't you remember your own command?"

There was something bitter in Face's voice that irritated Hannibal but he couldn't place it.

Face would have wanted to shower before leaving but that wasn't such a hot idea now. Instead he dressed and left to get some coffee before BA got to the same idea. His pass and transportation wouldn't be ready until six and he had to kill some time.

At least he got his coffee and was able to collect some of the money he had arranged for the day prior before he left to town. He booked four rooms at a beautiful hotel at the beach, each one with a view of the ocean, for three nights. The hotel was close to the restaurant he had chosen for the party, just 5 minutes walk, about 30 minutes away from the base if one used a jeep and didn't meet any traffic. They wouldn't need too long to get there after the promotion but it was far enough to try and forget the war for a few hours. He also checked out the restaurant and made sure all his arrangements had come through and much to his dismay found out that some of the items on BA's list were missing. Face used his contacts and roamed town and by 1:30 had everything set to perfection. Now he was left with two and a half hours to get back to base, collect the rest of the money and get ready, piece of cake as Hannibal would say.

Said Hannibal rather looked annoyed when he spotted his Lieutenant slowly drudging towards the rest of the team at almost exactly 3:45.

"Where the hell have you been? You're late Lieutenant."

Face looked up at the tone of voice and for the first time saw his complete team standing outside their tent. All polished and fully dressed.

Face was irritated, tired, sweaty and in pain and really not in the mood for any nonsense. "I was just fulfilling your orders colonel, and for the record, I'm not late, got 15 minutes left if my watch is correct."

Hannibal stepped forward at the brisk tone but Murdock put a hand on his shoulder before he could say anything. Unfortunately he wasn't fast enough to stop BA too.

"How you going to shower and dress in less than 15 minutes, you always spend ages to get ready. Where's your clothes anyway?"

"Leave me the hell alone already. I did all you want, got all the things you asked for, what do you want again now?"

"What I want? You better watch your mouth Pretty Boy. You been grating at my nerves ever since…"

"BA, I'm sure Face would be getting ready faster if you stopped arguing."

"Shut up fool, I ain't done."

"Not now BA. Get ready Lieutenant, and move it." Hannibal delivered his words with a tone of voice and a look in Face's direction that clearly said 'this will be talked about later'.

Face stepped around BA and into the tent, closing the flap behind him and dropping on the bunk. He was so tired. All he wanted was to sleep through the next two days and never hear a word of this promotion again. His knee throbbed along with his head and he was just feeling miserable.

"You going to get into them showers some time today or I got to throw the water at you?" BA shouted from outside after what seemed like seconds and had probably been some minutes.

"Oh, get off of me already. I did bathe last night, just what do you want from me?" Face pushed himself up and begun to dress up. He would have loved to take a shower minutes ago but knew the time was too short. Right now he didn't care whether he smelled or itched, all he wanted was to get this over with.

"You kidding me? You won't go to no promotion all sweaty."

"BA, leave it." Hannibal really didn't want his two promotion candidates to go some rounds before the big event.

"There's no way to prevent that. Even if I bathed now, which I won't, I would be sweaty again by the time we reached the office." The comment had made Ray chuckle, BA grumble and Hannibal and Murdock grin, but the situation changed as the flap of the tent moved again and Face stepped out.

"I thought I told you to get ready Lieutenant."

"I know."

"So?"

"So what?"

"Move it and get ready." Hannibal was getting more and more irritated, and what irritated him most at the moment was that Face too looked truly irritated.

"I am."

"What do you mean you are?"

"I'm combed, I'm dressed, I put on deodorant, what do you want from me?"

"Where's your new uniform and shoes?"

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"What's wrong with the old one?"

Hannibal didn't know what to say again, he was speechless which didn't happen often and made Ray smirk. "You meaning to tell us that you, the one wearing silk shirts for dates, didn't get anything new for yourself but got us all dressed up?"

"None of my things needed replacement. My uniform has no holes, no spots, the buttons are polished and the shoes too, where's the problem?"

"Oh man, let's go, we're running out of time here." Hannibal really didn't know what to do again.

They all turned to walk towards the camp commander's office leaving Face to limp behind them. There were three scheduled promotions today. The other guy and his commander were already there when the team arrived right on time.

"Gentlemen, I thought we would have to wait for you. Let's get started. We have three promotions today. Let me start with the one that arrived first. Corporal Barnes," that one was easy to guess. There was only one Corporal in the room and he was grinning from ear to ear. The guy quickly schooled his features, took a step forward and stood at attention.

"Sergeant Baracus," That one too was simple. There were very few people on the bases of Vietnam that the A-Team had frequented before that didn't know of BA Baracus and the Camp Commander wasn't one of them. Besides he was the only Sergeant among the group. BA too straightened up even more and took a step forward.

"and Lieutenant Peck." At first the camp commander thought this would be more tricky since there were two Lieutenants around and his eyes were not good enough to make out the names on the uniforms from the distance, but then he took a closer look and everything was clear. One of the Lieutenants was all polished out while the other one looked tired and worn out. At first he had wanted to call the Colonel on bringing this man to the ceremony but then decided to let it rest. He probably got tired serving his country and that was more important than to polish up for a colleagues promotion. He looked right at Ray when he spoke the name and was surprised he didn't move. Instead there was movement from the other end of the line. The Captain shoved the other Lieutenant forward who in turn glared at the Captain before turning back to the camp commander. He made no move to stand at attention though. The camp commander put on his spectacles now to check the guy in front of him. The name read Peck alright. He contemplated calling him on insubordination but thought again. He had not called anyone at attention, there was no rule to not look tired at ones promotion and his uniform, while worn, was clean and spotless, the buttons were polished as were the shoes. He just stood out because all the others were dressed in new clothes, which was hardly the guy's fault. He still looked at Peck when he called the group to attention and sure enough the soldier took in the required stand so he went on with the ceremony.

Face didn't even listen. Murdock shoving him had come unexpected and he had put his weight on his bad knee resulting in even more pain when he had to stand at attention now. The camp commander was going through the ceremony complete with the part where he points out that they are rewarded for their good deeds and therefore their name will now be connected to their new rank to show everybody how dutifully Mr. so and so had served for his country and bla bla so on. Face listened in only enough to know when he was supposed to do something and zoned out the rest. He watched the corporal and envied the guy. Only his commander had come with him and he wasn't all polished out like his team. He would probably go back on duty, maybe have a few drinks and that was it. Instead he was here with his entire team and would have to suffer through BA's party instead of getting some rest. Anyway, the team was not here because of him, they were here because of BA. He decided to just do the same, be here for BA and forget about the rest, as soon as the camp commander was done with him that is.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

After what seemed like an eternity to Face the ceremony was finally over. He turned ready to leave the place but found the corporal and his commander had beaten him to it. Just when he wanted to slip out too he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Where to LT? Stand beside the rest I'm going to take the pictures." Ray with a camera in his hand, just what he needed now.

He stood at wherever he was being told to or being pushed or shoved to. Face got increasingly irritated by the whole thing and BA got angrier by the second because of Face's lack of interest. Ray gave the camera to Murdock to also be in the picture and the shoving and pushing and rearranging continued until Face snapped.

"Don't you have enough pictures now?"

"What do you want from me? You been acting weird all the time. You and your bad mood. It's not every day that I get to celebrate a promotion, one that makes me the highest rank in my family even. You go and take the camera from the fool, I anyway don't want to have you in my pictures, you'll only ruin them with your worn uniform and damp mood." He snatched the camera from Murdock and was about to hand it to Face but decided otherwise in the last second. "Nah, you'll only mess up my pictures. Hey pal, do me a favor and snap us some nice pictures." BA had turned and handed the camera to the camp commander's secretary to continue taking the pictures.

Face stood off to the side. BA's words and actions had stung and he couldn't even tell why. He didn't want all this celebration but being excluded and having to watch, the guys were between him and the door, was worse. For some reason he was angry at Hannibal for not coming to his aid while he could have been equally angry at all the others but it wasn't the case. He just couldn't place why he felt that way and that irritated him even more.

Face had arranged the call for five in the afternoon and they were ten minutes to the time already and still snapping pictures. It was quite some walk to the MARS station and he didn't feel like jogging. If he didn't show up with the money the call would be cancelled. "Can we get a move on?"

"You're in deep LT. Better not get BA too angry." Ray who stood closest to Face at the moment tried to intervene before fists flew but Face wasn't about to back down.

"If you knew the things I went through to get this call arranged and now we're here snapping pictures while Mrs. Baracus is waiting for her call."

That got BA to move, if not in the desired direction. Instead of out the door he advanced on Face. "Why didn't you say something sucker? No one makes my mama wait."

"I did tell you your call is at five."

"Five, how am I supposed to know the time now sucker, coulda told me."

"By looking at you army standard wrist watch maybe…"

"BA! Put him down. You're making your mama wait."

Ah, so Hannibal still had a voice after all.

BA shoved Face one more time and marched out the door.

'Great, the bear is finally moving. Now I only have to get there ahead of the others to pay the guy off and avoid BA smashing the place, and me, to pieces. If they reach there before me and the guy tells BA that he needs to pay first I can best hand myself over to the VC for any torture they have in mind. Oh boy, my knee is so going to regret that.'

While the team used the main path Face took off between the various tents. His going round and collecting money and looking for people had given him the advantage of knowing every path in the camp. He knew a way that was slightly shorter than the main path, even so he had to speed up to reach there ahead of the others who were also walking at a brisk pace.

He made it inside the MARS hut just before the others rounded the last corner. His reward was a really throbbing pain in his knee that didn't seem to lessen again.

"Peck, thought you wouldn't show up."

"I'm here now, here's your money. The others will arrive shortly."

"They can take their time. I moved your call to 5:30 since you didn't show up earlier."

"But I'm not late, It's not yet five, I have three minutes left."

"You know how to operate this machine? No? Then you better keep quiet. It's 5:30 or nothing Peck."

Face knew he had no chance. The guy was still pissed at them and used this to show his powers. "Okay, you win. I'll be outside."

Face almost crashed into Murdock when he left the hut. "How? But…? Face, how did you get here?"

"Walking." Face dropped on one of the sandbags standing outside the hut. "Call's been shifted to 5:30."

"What do you mean? You made me stop taking pictures for nothing? Just so I stand in the heat waiting?" BA was looming over him but Face wasn't going to take any crap. He maneuvered himself out from under BA's imposing form, jumped to his feet and was nose to nose with BA in a flash.

"Don't you go blame me. Your call was shifted because you were not here in time. If you had listened to me in the first place you would be talking now and we all didn't need to wait in the sun. You're lucky it isn't cancelled."

"You were to arrange everything so it goes smoothly. 'sides we ain't late, it's just a minute past five."

"Ah, so you can read your watch after all."

"Face!" There was a clear warning in the colonel's voice. Face didn't much mind a fight with BA right now but getting on the bad side of the colonel was never a good idea, his position gave him way too much power. Darn Army.

"BA, why don't we go on snapping some pictures? The signboard 'Voice of the Green Beret' looks like an ideal background to me." BA grumbled something in Hannibal's direction but finally went over to the signboard in front of the MARS station and started arranging the people he wanted on the picture.

BA looked at Hannibal who held the camera. "Give that thing to the Faceman, he's no good for pictures today and since this is all his fault he can snap them."

"Oh no, I won't. And what do you mean…."

"Face, take the pictures."

Why was Hannibal getting in on this? Nothing of this mess was his fault and Hannibal knew that.

"No, I won't."

"Lieutenant, do I need to order you?"

Double darn the army. Why did he have to do that? Not only did he treat him unfair in front of the team but humiliate him in front of the other soldiers waiting. And if he refused now, Hannibal would have to react because of their audience. Anyway, he should have known. BA was on the team longer and he was able to bodily harm anyone else while Face was not posing any threat to Hannibal and was easily interchangeable with another supply officer. The big guy was clearly favored but this wasn't anything new to Face. He figured that it wasn't worth spending the night in the stockade and took the camera from Hannibal with as much dignity as he could muster.

After a few minutes of picture taking a jeep arrived. The corporal got out and gave the keys to Face who had to sign some form.

"What was that Lieutenant?"

"That's our ride to get to town."

"Coulda got it sooner then we wouldn't have needed to walk here and arrived in time."

Face just rolled his eyes. "You wanna take pictures or stand around here babbling?"

"Watch your mouth pretty boy."

How he hated to be called that. He made sure to cut off the heads of the people on the next few pictures.

The next 30 minutes passed by far too slow for Face's liking but finally BA was called to come on the phone and Face let himself slide down the wall until he was sitting on the sandbag again. He just hoped the others would get into the station too so he could quietly slip away. They knew the address of the restaurant and the hotel so he wasn't needed again. He felt drained and empty and just wanted to be alone, well, just him and an icepack for company.

One by one they followed BA inside, the plan seemed to work. Face sighed in relief as Ray, who was the last one, entered the station. However, before he could get up Ray was out again and dropped on the sandbag beside him.

"Oh man the place is crowded. You choose a fine place to chill LT. Can't wait for the party to start…."

Face listened with one ear to Ray rambling on about how great the promotion was and how great the party would be. Why couldn't they all just leave him alone? Just when he had given up hope Ray announced that he needed to take a leak and vanished behind the building. Face pushed himself up and started to limp towards the cover of the next tent when…

"Face!"

'Oh, this can't be happening.' He turned and saw Murdock frantically waving for him to come into the station. The picture was even more funny seeing that he was just three steps away from the man.

"Come on inside, BA's mama wanna talk to you buddy."

'Yeah, and that's about the last thing I want.' "Sure thing." Trying to conceal his limp as well as possible he walked in and took the call from BA.

"Hello Mrs. Baracus."

"Templeton dear, my son has told me so much about you. I just want to thank you. This call means so much to me. I'm sure your parents are so proud of you."

'Oh yeah, he told you a lot about me.' "Don't mention it Mrs. Baracus. I'm glad I could help."

"If my son ever gives you trouble, just call me."

'One day I'll talk to you about the last two weeks.' "Oh don't worry. I'll pass the call back to him. Nice talking to you." BA continued talking and Face left the place. The last thing he wanted to do now was to talk to some proud mother. Unfortunately Ray was back so the chance to leave had passed.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

It wasn't long before BA's time ran out and they took off in the jeep. Everybody approved of the restaurant when they reached it. A number of the guests BA had invited had already arrived and the place was starting to fill up. As far as BA could tell all the things he had requested for were there. The team sat together at one table and enjoyed the feast. Only Face kept pushing the food from one side to the other. To everyone's surprise and contrary to his usual habits he went straight for the strong alcohol and kept quiet.

The party got moving, the team split up to talk to other people but Murdock, who worried about the way Face was behaving, stayed close to the Lieutenant and kept an eye on him. Not surprising for him he didn't join into the banter among the guests but went for the bar to have another drink. Murdock decided to just watch instead of talking to him. He made sure his current partner of conversation was close to where Face was. To his surprise none of the guests seemed to mind the Lieutenant either so he took a closer look on the people around him. Before he could finish his little research Face moved and Murdock's plan to just watch went out of the window.

"Hey buddy, where to?"

"Oh, hey Murdock, didn't see you. Ah…just a trip to the bathroom. Will be back soon. Enjoy the party."

Face waved between the people towards the bathroom, Murdock could have sworn he was headed for the door before he spoke to him. Something was clearly wrong here.

"Hey Murdock, my favorite lunatic pilot. How's the going?"

Murdock was so deep in his thoughts that the he was startled by the approach and turned around. "Oh, hi Gary. I'm fine, as nutty as always. You still missing the big guy in your unit?" Gary was in BA's former unit and still a close friend.

"Sure but we meet quite often in the motor pool, when we're at the same base that is. He told me you keep him busy with your shenanigans."

"Someone had to take over from you. You know BA needs his daily rites or he gets grumpy."

"I'm sure you're a master in your field, and I'm not talking flying here."

"Not flying? Doing laundry then?" Murdock had been trying to spot Face again while talking but to no avail. "Gary, I'll catch you again. Have to take a trip for little lunatic pilots if you know what I mean."

"Sure thing Murdock."

Murdock made his way towards the bathroom but was stopped by a number of people on his way. By the time he finally made it Face was nowhere to be seen. He scanned the crowd again but couldn't find him anywhere. He did spot Hannibal by the bar and made a beeline for him.

"Colonel, can I talk to you for a moment?"

Hannibal was currently talking to another colonel and excused himself. "What is it Murdock?"

"Face is missing."

"What do you mean?"

"He went to the bathroom but he's not there."

"When was that?"

"About thirty minutes ago."

"Murdock, he's probably left the place about….ehm…twenty-eight minutes ago."

"But he's not here anymore, in the restaurant, and also not in front."

"You checked everywhere?"

"He was behaving strange."

"You noticed it too?"

"He's my best buddy, how could I not have noticed? I kept an eye on him but lost him when he claimed to go to the bathroom and now I can't find him."

"He drank quite a lot without eating much."

"He's not drunk colonel, a bit dazed maybe but not drunk enough to lose his way from the bathroom to the bar."

Usually, Hannibal would have calmed Murdock down and waved him off, Face didn't need a babysitter after all. But he had really been behaving strange and Hannibal had been meaning to talk to him but never got the chance. He didn't want him to miss his promotion party because of something that could probably be solved with some few words.

"He was really tired. You stay here and keep an eye out. I'm going to check the hotel."

Hannibal returned just ten minutes later. "Have you seen him?"

"No Face to be seen."

"Go get Ray, I'll get BA. We meet in front of the restaurant."

By the time they met Ray and BA had been filled in about their missing Lieutenant.

"I checked the hotel. He booked four rooms, one for each of us, but they have no reservation for Lieutenant Templeton Peck."

"Think he got himself a different hotel? Maybe that one was booked?"

"No BA, they still have free rooms."

"Maybe he has a girl in town and wouldn't need a hotel."

"I doubt that Ray, he has always been staying in a hotel with us on R&R, even if he had a girl."

"What do you think colonel?" Murdock was clearly concerned.

"Well, the Jeep he got us is still here."

"Come on colonel, this is Face we're talking about. He can get himself a ride whenever he wants."

"Murdock, come on, look at this party, he organized all this, why should he leave?" Ray was truly puzzled.

"He's been acting strange."

"He's acting strange all the time, after all he's best pals with you."

"Ray, you know I hate to agree to anything the fool says but…

"BA, I'm hurt."

"Shut up fool….he was really wired the last weeks. And if you really look at this party, everything I requested is there, but nothing more. He didn't add anything for himself."

"You saw that too?"

"Hannibal, I wrote the list after all."

"I'm going back to base. You guys enjoy the party and keep our guests occupied." Hannibal didn't wait for any answer but turned and headed for the jeep.

"What if we overdid it?"

"Overdid what fool?"

"I mean, we asked for so many things, unnecessary ones I may add, maybe he just couldn't get anything for himself."

"What are you talking about fool?"

"I asked for candy and comic books and fancy drinks and kept adding just for the fun of it and to challenge him but he got it all, and some of the things on your list were not necessary too. Maybe he reached his limit. He almost never slept whenever we were on base but was out organizing. I mean…between missions and today's deadline…maybe he couldn't get anything for himself."

"I doubt that Murdock. Look, we all asked for single dress items but he got us complete uniforms including boots. Why not add one for himself ones he's at it?" Ray didn't see Murdock's logic.

"Maybe five would have been suspicious where four was okay."

"Then he could have gotten the requested items and replaced his jacket at least, it really has seen better days."

"Don't know. He was cranky right from the moment he got the list. Maybe he saw he couldn't get all he wanted and didn't even try."

"Whiteout whining? Hardly."

"Ray, just look at the guests. All of BA's friends that were close to Nah Trang today are here and then those who come just because it's an A-Team promotion party and off-base. Face didn't invite anybody."

"I'm not convinced fool, but then I didn't exactly treat him friendly."

"Guys, our guests seem to be enjoying themselves alright. Let's put some of the guys in charge and follow our colonel." Ray still wasn't convinced that Face's mood was their fault but something was up and the A-Team never left a man behind, or as in this case, never let a man run away on his own.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Hannibal found Face laying on his bunk with his eyes closed. He was in t-shirt and boxers, his hair still wet from bathing. His left knee was swollen and red and covered with an ice pack. Hannibal briefly wondered where he had gotten the ice pack on such short notice before making his presence known.

"Lieutenant."

Face opened his eyes and groaned. "What now? I did everything anybody asked for, the big guy is pleased, can't I get some rest?"

"You vanished from the party without a word. What's up Lieutenant?"

Face sat up. "What's up? I'm tired, okay. I've been running up and down to get all the things the Team wanted and never got some rest."

"That wouldn't keep you away from a big party, your promotion party after all."

"My party." Face snorted. "It's BA's party. I never wanted one."

Hannibal was getting irritated. "Yeah and you're doing your best to kill the mood. What the hell is wrong with you?"

"With me? What's wrong with the rest of you? It's just a promotion. No big deal. We're in the army. Promotions happen if they are wanted or not. Why does everyone have to make such a fuss?"

"It happens but not too often. Yours is the bigger one and your first real promotion on top. You should be more happy than BA and here you are, sleeping instead of celebrating. That's not normal."

"I don't give a shit about normal and I certainly don't care what you see as normal."

"Lieutenant, you're out of line. I know you had some drinks but you need to keep your mouth in check."

That did it for Face. He slowly got up, wincing at the pain in his knee, and stood nose to nose with Hannibal. "Sorry colonel," he snarled "forgot that I'm not up to your standard and have to salute before I breathe."

"Face, I'm warning you. I won't stand around and listen to your insubordination forever."

"So you'll do what?"

"I bet you don't want to spend your promotion night in the stockade Lieutenant."

"As if I cared. Wanna get rid of me colonel? Or you need me to scam some things before you toss me away?" 'Peck, what the hell are you doing? Stop this, don't let it get to you.'

"If I had wanted to get rid of you I would have done so a long time ago." Hannibal too had had some drinks, if not as many as Face, and the alcohol made the whole discussion more heated than it would have been under normal circumstances.

"Oh yeah? I bet you can come up with any number of reasons, colonel." The pair was still nose to nose.

"How about you bring the morale of the whole team down right now. Ever since this promotion came up your mood is more than down and it's starting to drag the rest of us along. I don't need any liabilities on my team."

"So now that I'm done organizing the party I'm a liability. Anyway, I don't think having a bad mood is enough to get canned. Get creative colonel."

Even after the short time together Hannibal knew when Face was trying to deflect him and when he should better not push further but the alcohol clouded his judgment. "How about because you're lying, cheating and forging papers."

Face's voice turned cold as he answered. "Yes I do lie and cheat and forge papers, but only under your command, to get the things you and the team request for." When he was done he let himself fall back a little to create some space between him and the colonel.

Face looked somehow deflated. Hannibal's inner voice told him to stop things at this point but he just couldn't help himself. "What about your file then?"

"What's with my file?" The suspicious tone was back.

"Did you forge it under my command."

"It's not forged."

"It is."

"Those scores are mine."

"I'm not talking about your scores."

Hannibal had this carefree tone, as if he was just talking about the weather and Face hated to have it turned on him in an argument. "What do you want from me?"

"What about your age?"

"What's with it?"

"You`re nowhere near twenty-four, kid." The 'kid' was drawn out and pronounced as if it was a bait.

"I am."

"Oh come off it, just look in a mirror."

Face stayed quiet, fighting for control, and Hannibal went on. "What was it, kid? Seventeen and mommy didn't give her consent or sixteen and just wanting to run away from home to prove you're a big boy?"

Face growled low and took a swing at Hannibal who was prepared and easily ducked out of the way. In turn he took Face by the front of his t-shirt and brought him close. "What is it kid? Cat got your tongue?"

'What the hell are you doing Peck, stop it.' But his mouth had other plans, whether from the influence of the alcohol or from pent up frustration he could later on not tell. "You bastard, you know I'm an orphan."

"And how would I know this part of your file wasn't doctored?" Hannibal had never had any doubts about that and didn't know where his words were coming from now. Face on the other side was clearly fighting the urge to take another swing at his colonel.

"Let go of me."

"Oh yeah? And then what?"

"Take your hands from me."

"As you want." Hannibal used his secure stand and body weight and shoved Face backwards before he let go. Face stumbled and fell over his cot that was standing just inches behind him. On his way he turned the cot over and was momentarily covered by his blanket and mattress. The renewed pain in his knee, now joined by other body parts, brought his anger back under control. 'Great Peck, congrats. You just threw away the best thing that ever happened to you. No Co would hold onto such a hothead.'

Hannibal too came to his senses by the picture in front of him. "Face?"

Face just knew that his time on the A-Team was over. He fought for control to at least end it with some dignity. First he had to get out from under his mattress. He was so caught up in his thoughts that he never heard Hannibal's concerned voice. Maybe not all was lost. "Let's just forget about this. I'm tired and I had too much to drink, go and celebrate with the others."

"No, I won't just forget about this. Your mood is not based on tiredness and I want to know what it is."

Face looked up. He mistook Hannibal's concern with gloating, he had way more experience in that field than in the field of concern towards him. 'should have known, the great Hannibal Smith will not just leave it be but demand details before he sucks me so he can tell everybody what a lost case his lieutenant was.

Hannibal on the other side knew he wouldn't get any answers out of Face if he didn't get them now and here. "Face, you got promoted today, you should be happy."

Here he stood in his underwear next to his turned over cot and his fully dressed Co, so much for dignity. "Can't you just give it a rest?"

Hannibal didn't like the deflated tone but knew he needed to push more to get answers. "No, I won't give it a rest until you tell me what's going on."

"You want to know what's going on? Yeah?"

"Yeah, that's exactly what I want." Hannibal didn't like the harsh tone in his own voice but the kid was really grating at his nerves tonight. Sometimes he could be so stubborn.

'I'm done here, no need to think this would end any other way than all the times before. I was just deceiving myself. It had to happen sooner or later. I'm a screw up by birth. Might as well vent some anger, it's always refreshing to get some of it off my chest.' "You want to know what's going on? This whole promotion rubbish is going on. What's there to celebrate? Certainly nothing for me. It's unfair. I fought for my country, I risked my life, I saved fellow soldiers and yet my name does not appear on the promotion list. It's always the same."

Hannibal was stunned for a moment. "Huh? What are you talking about kid?"

"I'm talking about Templeton Peck getting promoted. Not me but Templeton Peck."

"Did you hit your head lately? You are Templeton Peck."

"No, I'm not. I don't know who I am. Templeton Peck, Alvin Brenner, Holmes Morrison… whatever. I chose to be Templeton Peck after trying several other names. Templeton Peck does not exist. He's a nobody. I'm a nobody…. I'm nobody. Templeton Peck doesn't exist."

"You're not making any sense kid."

"Templeton Peck doesn't exist. It's just a name I made up. I don't even know my own goddamn name. Nobody knows my name, or let's say those that do are not willing to tell me. Can't they just say, 'hey, nobody over there, you're now a first lieutenant.' It would have meant more to me than this little ceremony today. But no, they have to gloat and decorate that made up personality with a higher rank. No matter what they put in front of that name it's still not my own."

"You can't mean it." Hannibal was too stunned to make a lot of words. He knew his expression was anything but colonel like but he just didn't understand what the kid was getting at.

"I do mean it Colonel. I earned this promotion. I earned to be a first Lieutenant. I served my country, risked my life and yet my name is not on the promotion. It feels like someone else was promoted today and not me."

Hannibal had not expected that bitterness from Face and was taken aback. He knew Face had had a number of names as a kid but would never have guessed that the lack of identity had such an impact on him.

"Now that is just the point. You, the person standing in front of me, has earned this promotion. Does the name really matter?"

"You don't get it, do you? Anyway, I don't even know why I'm telling you this." It had seemed like a good idea a moment ago but now he felt stupid.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Hannibal knew why, simply because everyone needed someone to listen from time to time. Only the kid would not get it. He did not trust anyone in the team enough to tell things about himself, which in itself was a great thing since he actually talked all day. "Why you are telling me this? That one I can tell you. Because your mouth finally caught on to the fact that you can trust us with more than your life in combat, a fact that your mind is still denying. I know everything about all my boys but I don't know anything about you. Even your file is doctored. I don't even know your real age. Why do you think you can't trust me?" He had tried to get this kid to open up several times and it was frustrating. Anytime he started he would shut down again before actually giving away any information."

"Age? I'm talking about name, identity, and you care about a number?" The anger that was about to ebb away just a moment ago was back with full force. Face didn't even know how it had happened but he found himself yelling at his Co. He had pushed the right button and Face had not even been aware that it was there. "Why should I trust you? You're telling me the name doesn't matter but the age does? Go ahead, give me a number, I've been a number all my life. I'm so sick of it, I want to be somebody, no damn number. And just for the record, I don't trust anybody. Especially not people who have some sort of power over me and therefore can kick me out at any moment."

"You are determined that I will throw you off the team, are you?"

"Why would you keep me? Hell, even I would get rid of me first chance. Anyway, you can now happily suck your damaged liability lieutenant from the team. You have every excuse in the world, every psychologist would even send me home. Unless you need me to get you some more things before you can me, just leave a list before you go back to celebrate the promotion of Templeton Peck."

"Kid."

"What?" All power had gone from his voice. Venting his anger had felt good but now that the anger was gone it left him with regret as the knowledge of what had just happened hit him full force. He had just thrown away his chance to finally be somebody, to be a member of the A-Team. And he had come to realize how he would miss those people, probably more than anyone else who had left him during his life.

"Wanna sit down before you collapse?"

Since Face didn't move Hannibal turned the cot back over, pulled the mattress on it and more or less maneuvered a boneless lieutenant into a sitting position before sitting down on Murdock's cot that was next to Face's.

"You think that's all you are on this team? The supply officer that gets us our stuff?"

"That's my job. What else would I be?"

"You are one hell of a soldier for example."

"Like thousand others too."

"You're a great marksman, one of the best I've come to know."

"There are more guys out there that can shoot straight."

"What am I even trying to tell you. Your soldier skills sure can be replaced." Face's shoulders sunk a bit more at Hannibal's words. "It's your personality that can't." Hannibal could see the wheels turning in Face's head but he didn't get it yet nor did he say anything so he went on. "Don't you get it kid? We are not just a team, we are a family. And you seemed to be the missing link in our family. The glue that keeps us together and makes us complete. That is why we work so well together. We seem to know what the other one is thinking when we are out in the field, but when it comes to personal matters you are a very hard one to read. Anyway, like it or not you have been adopted and you are not getting rid of us that easily."

The poor kid was shaking like a leaf. His head hung down, eyes on the floor, he started speaking in a very quiet voice, just like on auto pilot. It seemed like his mind didn't actually approve of his mouth speaking but there was no way he could stop it.

"When we got our exam papers at the end of each year the father would always congratulate the students during Sunday mass, telling us that we did well enough to pass to the next level and that our name on the certificate was proof forever that we worked hard all year. Only my name kept changing every some years until I had to stick with one from my final year, so as not to cause confusion later on. I always hoped that one day I would hit the right name and remember something or somebody would tell me my name. My parents couldn't have hated me so much as to even keep my name from me, the name that was given to me. After all they did stick around for some years, I guess. I mean I don't know but the nuns guessed I was about five when they found me wandering the streets and I could not have survived on my own right from the beginning. There must be other people that know my name; grandparents, uncles, aunts, neighbors, friends. I always hoped the orphanage would get an anonymous hint that the boy in your charge is called so and so. Or at least a first name or a birthday, anything that was truly mine. But it never happened. It was terrible in later years when I was at a school that didn't belong to the orphanage and I had to witness all the proud parents and grandparent congratulating their kids to their graduation. No one ever came to witness my graduation. I mean, the nuns and priests had other things doing but it still hurt to be standing in front of the class and all the parents and relatives to receive a graduation that nobody cared about. People were taking pictures as the exam papers were handed out but the pictures always stopped when it came my turn and continued with the next boy. As if I was thin air. But I understood. If nobody cared enough to give me my real name, who would care what became of the boy without a name. Sure, the father looked at each of our exam papers and sometimes would put all of us together for a group picture, but that wasn't the same. It was after the ceremony was over. And now BA and all his joy. I didn't only have to watch this time but play an active role in organizing everything for him."

Hannibal waited for more but Face did not speak again. After some minutes he crouched down in front of him and gently lifted his chin. Face knew the routine. Hannibal would now tell him how sorry he was but he was too damaged to be kept around. That always happened when he finally opened up to one of the numerous foster parents. He finally lifted his eyes to look at Hannibal but could not place what he saw. Hannibal had the 'I'm sorry' look alright but the 'I'll send you away' look was missing. Face was confused.

"You didn't organize BA's promotion party but yours and BA's. We were all there at the ceremony to witness the promotion of the two of you, not just BA. I'm sorry if you felt that way."

"You …you still want me around? Why?"

"Why wouldn't I?"

"Because…because I'm damaged goods, colonel. No one wants me. Not for long anyway."

Hannibal had never felt so angry at unknown people before. At all the people that had kicked this kid in the teeth. He was a brilliant young man but so insecure from bitter experience. He sat beside Face and drew the shaking young man close.

"Would…would you…would you have come if it was only me getting promoted?"

However before he could answer, the so called door that was actually a tent flap opened and the rest of the team stepped inside. They had arrived in time to hear the crash as Face had fallen over the bunk but had opted to stay out of whatever was going on and listen in on the conversation from a distance.

BA in his ever charming straight forward way growled out "What you talking about fool. Hannibal told you that you are ours. And we keep what is ours and look out after it. Sure we all woulda been there just the same."

Murdock added "Why didn't you say anything? You suffered through all of BA's euphoria and organized everything. We could have done that if you had just said something, I mean, you would still have had to suffer through BA's euphoria but at least we woulda known."

"Shut up fool. Nobody suffers just 'cause I'm happy. Besides he said he doesn't trust as enough to talk, why do you need to ask again."

"I…I didn't mean it like that. I do trust you."

"Then why didn't ya talk?"

"BA, didn't you just tell me not to ask that question?"

"No, actually it's a good question. If you do trust us Face, why didn't you say something? You've been grumpy all the time. A simple 'leave me alone I don't like promotions' would have done it." Hannibal decided it was a good time to press a bit more.

"It's just…just…I never told anybody. Just get through it and move on."

"Yeah, and build up frustration where talking would have been so simple."

Face was still shaking and obviously uncomfortable being the center of all concern. Ray decided to come to his rescue. "Colonel, leave the man alone. I guess he learned his lesson." It later on turned out that that wasn't the case but Ray couldn't have known that. "Besides a simple 'leave me alone I don't like promotions' wouldn't have done it. It would just have started the thousand questions earlier."

"And it would have saved him weeks of silent suffering."

"You always need to have the last word colonel, do you?"

"No, I do. Because you all forgot to mention the most important thing. He has a given name. We gave you the name Faceman and I will happily stitch that on your uniform 'LT Faceman'. And while I'm at it I will add some design. What about a small plane and some stars."

With that BA had Murdock by the collar of his shirt. "Leave the Faceman alone, fool. He doesn't need no crazy man stitching anything on his uniform."

Face sat there with a stupid grin spreading on his face. His dream had come true and he had not even noticed it. Here he sat held close by his 'father' and watched his brother protecting him from something he didn't need protection from. He would love for Murdock to stitch 'LT Faceman' on his uniform. Maybe he would just leave it hanging somewhere in Murdock's sight.

"Now that that's settled, can we get on with our celebration? I can see five guys with three day passes sitting around on base, one of them in his underwear. If that makes the round the name of the A-Team is damaged beyond repair." Ray was trying to lighten the mood and was also desperate to get back to the party. "Besides Face has outdone himself this time. I don't want to miss this party."

"Uhmm….guys…go ahead. I'll just stay here and get some rest."

"You still sulking Faceman?"

"You know the number one team rule Lieutenant. The A-Team never leaves a man behind. Come on Face, get dressed and lets go."

"Um….well…actually there are only four guys here who have a three day pass. I have only one and it's late already."

"Why didn't you get one for yourself too? You're never one to object to some time off base."

"Doesn't matter Ray, I'm his Co, I'll just issue a two day pass for him, come on, get dressed."

"Hannibal…that won't be possible."

"And why not?"

"I…I had three days like you, I…ahmmm…I sold my two days to someone else."

"Why?"

"I was a bit short of money and …well…I wanted it to be over instead of watching three more days."

"Did you make it official?"

"What?"

"The transfer of the pass."

"Yes, his name's on the pass."

"Then no problem, I can still issue a new one for you. The joys of being in the army kid."

"But…no, I didn't book a hotel too."

"I asked, they have more rooms."

"But…"

"What again? Stop making excuses." BA was getting tired of the game.

"I can't pay for a hotel."

"And why not? We just had pay day and you sold your pass. What did you spend all your money on?"

"Needed it for your call."

"Come on, those calls are free."

"But not if you want it at a certain time and for longer than usual. And especially not if you want it for the guy who picked a fight with the operator last time he came there."

"How much did he charge you kid."

"Doesn't matter."

"Kid."

"Just drop it okay?"

"How much Face?"

"A month's pay for a first lieutenant."

"What? And you paid all this for me? Wow, Faceman, you're something."

"We could have put our money together."

"Didn't want you to think I can't do my job."

"Kid, sometimes you're really interesting. Now get dressed and let's go."

"But…"

"No buts, you either join us or I'll drop you off at the infirmary and pick you up in two days." Hannibal knew that Face's knee wasn't a reason for him to stay at the infirmary but he also knew that Face hated to be admitted and the shear thought of it would stop his arguments. "What's it going to be?"

Face hung his head. "I would love to join you but I'm broke. I can't pay for the hotel. I'm so sorry you'll have to pay for your rooms, I wanted to settle that but…" he trailed off.

"Nobody expects you to pay for us."

"I know, but I wanted to."

"Anyway, let's go, we'll pay for you this time."

Ray picked up Face's pants. "Are you sure this knee will fit inside?"

"It did so far."

"Shouldn't be that swollen anymore. What did the doc say."

"I…erm…didn't go there?"

"What? I ordered you to go."

"Sorry. Doc couldn't do something anyway, it just needs time. And I needed time to organize things rather than sit in the infirmary waiting."

Hannibal folded his arms over his chest and bit on his cigar. "BA, accompany him to the doc before we go."

"Ahh, come on Hannibal. I only need to rest it for a while."

"I'll believe that when the doc confirms it, off with you."

BA helped Face up after he had managed to wriggle into his pants and supported some of his weight. Face could have done without as he had during the past days but BA just wanted to be of help and Face let him. It was strange for him to accept help but he somehow enjoyed it, especially coming from BA.

As the duo made their way outside Ray called after them. "Hey BA, tell the doc to move it before our guests…erm…miss their ride."

Hannibal just groaned. "I don't even want to know."

While waiting at the infirmary BA was getting more and more uncomfortable.

"Something wrong?"

"Nah…well…yes…uhm, Faceman, you didn't pay for all them things at the party, did you?"

Face chuckled, "No, just the call and a few things. You underestimate my organization skills."

"Was just wondering why you're broke, I mean, not having anybody home to send money to and all."

Face just shrugged. "Used it."

"How? There's not too many possibilities around to spend money at. You're not gambling or buying drugs, right?"

BA looked almost shocked at the thought and Face decided to better come clean than to risk rumors that could end up with Hannibal. "I send most of my pay to my orphanage but please, I don't want people to know."

"Why? You helping out those kids is really good of you. Man, I'm sorry I thought bad of you. I just thought ones you don't have a family and all…"

Face looked away at that.

"Me and words. Just forget it, you do have a family now. A bit of a strange one but family anyway."

Before anything more could be said the doc had time for them and confirmed that Face should rest his leg. In less than twenty minutes they were back with the others and ready to go.

"It's about time we got moving. Let's go celebrate the promotion of Sergeant BA and Lieutenant Faceman."

Ray was almost out the door when Face added in a small and dreamy voice, "And a new found family."

The party went on without further incidents. The team sat together at a table and Hannibal ordered Face, whose leg was propped up on a chair, not to move. The others mixed with the guests from time to time but made sure Face was never alone at the table. After some more hours the party came to an end and it came time to move to the hotel. Hannibal went to the reception and accepted one key.

"Let's go guys."

"Wait, what about the other keys? I booked four rooms."

"Face, you're not the only one who can organize things. What do you think where you inherited that trade, runs in the family." With that Hannibal started upstairs leaving the somewhat stunned group behind. "You coming or what?"

When he turned to check the progress of the others his heart swelled. While three of his team members looked stunned Face was beaming with pride. He stood straighter than he had in weeks. It was just a side comment Hannibal had made without much thinking but to Face it meant the world. Someone finally wanted him, and not just someone but Hannibal of all people. He wanted him to the extent that he could even imagine for Face to be his son. The day that he had dreaded so much and that had started off so terrible had turned into the best day of his live.

"Come on kid, let's go." Face didn't need to be told twice. He took the few stairs to catch up with Hannibal who then put an arm around his waist to help support some weight for the rest of the short walk.

Being stunned turned to being amazed when Hannibal opened the door to a huge suit with several rooms.

"We needed an extra bed and since Face needs to rest but also shouldn't be alone all the time I thought he would be best off on the couch right in the middle here." Hannibal turned around and saw the rest of his team still standing just inside the suit. "The freezer should be full of ice for your knee kid. I don't know about you guys but I'm going to sleep. I don't mind if you keep standing there but please close the door."

That sent the rest in motion, if one of them in a slow and limping motion, and soon they were all about to undress and get ready to sleep.

"Face, gimme your uniform jacket."

Face was about to hand it over when BA snatched it out of his hand. "You're not going to stitch anything on it fool, I'll keep that." Murdock winked at Face and Face returned a smile but inwardly he was sorry. He really would have loved for Murdock to stitch 'LT Faceman' on it, even though he knew that could get him in trouble he was well prepared to face it.

When they all awoke late the next morning Hannibal ordered room service and all but one were surprised that instead of the usual breakfast a big chocolate cake was delivered. Only Face wore a dreamy smile on his face.

"Wow, that looks delicious. Hannibal, you really thought of everything. Maybe we should replace our supply officer."

"Thanks Ray but that was not my doing. Just look at our current supply officer, I think he's finally gotten around to celebrate his promotion." But Face was so lost in his thoughts he didn't even hear what was being said.

"Face? Earth to Faceman." Murdock waved a hand in front of his eyes.

"Huh? Sorry."

"Where did you get this? We were all here together and you could hardly have walked out without us noticing."

"A magician never shares his secrets."

"Let's forget about the how, I'm interested in the why. You finally going to celebrate your promotion kid?"

"No."

"Then why the cake?"

"I have something far more important to celebrate."

"Which would be? C'mon, don't let me ask everything."

Face turned a bit red and looked down. "I always dreamed of how I would share the first chocolate cake with my family when I finally found one. Stupid to hang on to kids dreams, I know."

The room was silent for a moment, nobody had expected this.

"No, not stupid at all kid. C'mon then, you gotta cut the cake." Hannibal brought the table close to Face's couch so he only needed to sit up. The others dragged some chairs around it and Face started cutting the cake and sharing it.

Murdock raised his cake like a cup of champagne and started to bring out a toast but didn't get far before BA groused "Shut up fool." To everyone's surprise he raised his own cake "To a new found family that will stick together forever."

They spend the next two days mostly in their luxurious suit, talking, playing cards and just enjoying each other's company. Soon the morning of the third day was there and it became time to leave. Before everybody could leave the room Face turned to all and said "Thanks guys."

"For what man?"

"For the best two days I can remember."

Hannibal put an arm around his shoulder. "There'll be many more kid, promised. Now let's go, you sit in front, will be easier on your knee." While Face didn't limp as much as before he still had pains.

"No, Face has to sit with me at the back, pleeaassseee."

"Thanks colonel, I'll sit with Murdock and Ray."

Hannibal had the feeling that those two were up to something but wasn't sure what. They rode back to base and Face was grinning from ear to ear when they got out of the jeep.

"We're all in our uniforms and the Faceman is finally smiling, let's take a last promotion picture." BA got a passing soldier to snap some more pictures of the group and Face made sure that his name patch wasn't covered by anybody. When they were done BA turned to Face. "See, now you're finally proud of your rank Lieutenant….Murdock!"

As BA run after a fleeing Murdock, Face straightened out the patch of cloth that had neatly been pinned to his uniform, covering the name patch that was there. It read 'Lt. Faceman' and had a star to the left and a little plane to the right.

THE END


End file.
